Knesset approves preliminary reading of bill cementing Orthodox control over Western Wall

By Sam Sokol 25 February 2026, 1:16 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Conservative rabbis pray at the Ezrat Yisrael egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall, December 12, 2024. (Courtesy/ File)

Lawmakers vote 56-47 in favor of the preliminary reading of a bill giving the Chief Rabbinate full control over prayer at all parts of the Western Wall

Despite declining to back the bill, Netanyahu allowed members of his coalition to vote freely. Several Likud lawmakers are absent from the vote, including Yuli Edelstein and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

The bill, sponsored by Noam MK Avi Maoz, is intended to undercut last Thursday’s High Court of Justice ruling that the state must move forward with the upgrade of the Western Wall egalitarian plaza, which would allow non-Orthodox prayers at a lesser-used portion of the holy site. The upgrade was part of the Western Wall Compromise agreed to by Netanyahu’s government a decade ago, which called for a pluralistic prayer platform at the site.

The new bill would give the country’s two chief rabbis ultimate authority over the so-called “Ezrat Israel,” which has been used as an egalitarian prayer area, and define any activity at the site contrary to their instructions, such as non-Orthodox worship, as a “desecration.”

“I had the privilege of voting in favor of the Western Wall law, and I congratulate the Knesset on its approval. The Knesset said to the High Court: No more! I call for the completion of the legislation to put an end to the High Court’s interference in the management of the Western Wall,” declares Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who also serves as religious services minister.

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party praises the law as intended to “reserve the sanctity of the Western Wall, and against attempts to desecrate and violate the rules of the place that have been practiced for generations.”